The Day He Died
by TheLaikynVictoria
Summary: The team finds and reads the letters, and mull over everything they've learned. And then that night...  Sequel to 'Life In Letters'. Must read that first.


**_A/N-Hey there! I decided to write a second-shot(?) to my oneshot 'Life In Letters'. There will be a third shot, so stay tuned!  
Hope you like it! =D_**

**_Please pleas please please please please please review!_**

**_(You must read Life In Letters before you read this)_**

* * *

**December 14th, 2010**

**0800 Hours**

Leon Vance walked toward his office, smiling at Cynthia as he walked past.

"Uh, Director." She called out as he stepped into the office.

He turned around and poked his head out the door, "yes, Cynthia?"

"You have a letter here." She told him, handing him a plain white envelope.

"Thank you." He took it and looked at the front of it. It simply read _'Director Vance'_. He set his briefcase and coat on the conference table and then opened the envelope. Being a speed reader, it took him a mere few seconds to read the short note. After reading it, he let the words process.  
McGee was...Resigning? He let the letter drop on the table as well and stormed out of his office and toward the squadroom. It was no surprise to see Gibbs arriving first, coffee in hand.

"Special Agent Gibbs." Vance stated, fast-walking toward him with determination. "What's this about McGee resigning?"

"What?" Gibbs asked as he sat at his desk. "I don't know what you're talking about."

That's when he saw the letter.

He picked up his glasses and slipped them on, and then opened the letter that was addressed to _'Boss'_.

After reading it, he could feel the hurt, anger and..._bile_ rising.

"He..He..I don't.."

For once in his life, Leroy Jethro Gibbs was speechless. He looked over at Tony's and Ziva's desks and saw that there were envelopes there, too.

He looked at McGee's desk and was shocked and...not so shocked, to find it emptied. All that was left was the computer, and desk lamp.

"Why would he just...Leave without warning?" Vance wondered out loud.

Before Gibbs could reply, Ziva and Tony entered the squadroom, bickering with each other.

"DiNozzo! David!" Gibbs barked, immediately halting their arguing.

"Yeah, Boss?"  
"Gibbs?"

"Read those letters." Gibbs ordered, nodding in the direction of the desks. After they read them, they looked up at Gibbs, shocked.

"What's going on?" Tony demanded, the worry evident in his expression yet denial taking control. "This is some sort of prank right? Some sort of practical joke?"

"I do not think so, Tony." Ziva said quietly. "I just do not understand why."

"Well, actually-" Gibbs was cut off by sobbing and loud clomping footsteps.

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs!"  
Abby came running from the stair case at Gibbs, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Gibbs, what's going on?" She cried. "Please tell me it's not true! Timmy, he...He can't be leaving! He can't!"

"Abbs.." Gibbs unsuccessfully tried to comfort her. "Abbs, calm down. It's gonna be alright."

"No, it's not!" She wailed. "Timmy's gone!"

"I know." Gibbs replied, gently tugging her back and looking her in the eye. "Now, is Ducky here yet?"

"Uhm, y-yeah." She hiccuped. "He and Jimmy came in right behind me."

"DiNozzo, get Ducky and Jimmy to the conference room and meet us up there." Gibbs ordered, keeping an arm around Abby's shoulder. "Vance, David." He nodded toward the stairs.

* * *

Once everybody was seated in the conference room, each of them with letters in hand, Gibbs looked from one person to the next.

Tony, Ziva, Ducky, Jimmy, Vance, Abby...

How was he going to tell them that McGee was...

"McGee asked me, in his letter, to tell you all _why_ he is leaving." Gibbs started. "He said that he couldn't handle telling anyone else, and that he would appreciate it if I could tell all of you."

"Oh my God, is he alright?" Abby asked, her eyes still red from her earlier episode.

Gibbs swallowed hard before replying,  
"no, Abby, he's not."

No sense lying to her...

This brought another sob from her as she clutched Bert and the letter protectively.

"He took a leave of absence a few months ago because he said his mother was sick." Gibbs continued. "Well, his mother wasn't sick. He was."  
"Was?" Tony asked.  
"Is." Gibbs said pointedly. "He has an...Inoperable, untreatable, malignant brain tumor." He read from the letter.

Silence.

Total, complete, silence.  
And then,  
"brain cancer?"

Tony's whispered words would have broken the heart of any person with a conscious and a heart. He sounded so deflated and sad, and like...Well, like he'd just lost his best friend.

Gibbs nodded, "it's too close to his pituitary gland to cut out, his body rejected chemo and radiation isn't working." He paraphrased this time.

"So he is dying." Ziva stated rather than asked, attempting to keep her emotions at bay.

She wasn't doing so well.

Gibbs nodded, again,

"his doctor gave him six months approximately four months ago."

"Then why'd he leave now?" Tony asked defensively. "He could have stayed and _really_ said goodbye, not be a coward and leave stupid notes. 'Oh hey, sorry, I have a brain tumor and I'm dying so I decided to leave my best friend a note saying I'm leaving!'." Tony sarcastically ranted, his emotions unravelling by the moment.

Soon, he was nothing but a ball of tears in the chair he sat in, his head in his hands. Ducky, who had at some point during the speel switched spots with Ziva, was rubbing Tony's back and softly whispering to him, attempting to calm him down.

"He wants us at his funeral." Gibbs said softly.

"What was that?" Jimmy, who had sat quietly throughout the whole thing, spoke up.

"He said he uh, would be honored to have us at his funeral." Gibbs announced, a little louder this time. "When it comes time for it."

Ziva had lost all control and was now also crying, leaning against Ducky.

"And he has searched for any other possible prognosis?" He asked as he tried to calm down Tony _and_ Ziva.

"It's McGee, Duck." Gibbs stated. "He wouldn't do this-"

He held up the letter.

"-unless he was sure."

Ducky nodded, "I do wish there was some other ending to this story."

Abby, who was still hugging Bert and her own letter, sniffled and started to speak, "he's not just another story, Dr. Mallard. He's my Timmy! He's _dying_ and now I'm not gonna see him again until I'm looking at his dead body in a casket!"

She jumped up and ran out of the conference room.

"Oh dear, I did not meant to cause that." Ducky sighed.

"It's okay, Ducky, she is just upset." Ziva, who had calmed down considerably, told him. "As we all are."

Tony too had cooled down from his little rant and had his face buried in his arms.  
"This just isn't fair." He said, his words muffled.

"Yeah, well.." Gibbs stated. "How do you think McGee feels?"

* * *

**2228 hours**

Tony sat in his apartment, on his couch, with a bottle of beer in one hand and his phone in the other. McGee's contact card was open and his thumb lingered over the green 'call' button. He inhaled deeply, and pressed the button quickly. He frantically put the phone on his ear and listened, hoping he'd answer.

_"I am sorry, but the number you are trying to reach has been disconnected. Please hang up and-"_

Tony yanked the phone away from his ear and angrily threw it across the room. It hit the wall with a smash, breaking in more than likely multiple places.

"God, why, McGee?" He yelled, letting the bottle drop from his hand. "Why?"

McGee was his Probie. His friend. His comrade and brother. He couldn't die. Not yet. But there was no denying the inevitable. McGee was going to die soon, and there was nothing Tony could do about it.

Suddenly, the broken phone started ringing. Tony walked over and picked it up, carefully answering it.

**2235 hours**

The ceiling was such an odd pattern, Ziva determined as she continued to stare up at it.

She'd been lying on her bed since she got home an hour before, just staring at the ceiling and thinking. Kind, sweet, gentlemanly, Tim McGee was dying, and dying of something as awful as a brain tumor. Something of which he had no control. She couldn't stand it. He did _not_ deserve something like this. He had done nothing to hurt another living being in his entire life. Well, not intentionally, anyway, this Ziva was sure of.

Which is why it angered her that this would happen to him.

"I will miss you, McGee." Ziva whispered. Tears fell from her eyes, and because she was lying down they ran down the side of her face to her pillow. "I will miss you so much."

A ringing from the side table next to her told her her phone was ringing. She quickly composed herself, and then answered it.

**2239 hours  
**

Abby was dozing comfortable in her coffin, dreaming of all of the wonderful times she'd ever spent with Tim. When she awoke from her cat naps, she would always be heartbroken at the realization that he wouldn't be coming back. She ran her hand gently up along the inside lining, smiling at the memories. Her and Tim had shared so much together. They'd dated for the briefest of times, but they were more than that, really. They were ever so close to each other. Best friends, soul mates even. She loved him with all her heart, and could only hope he knew just how much she loved him.

"Timmy, don't ever forget me. Please?" Abby pleaded softly. "Don't forget me, and I will never forget you."

Her phone ringing brought her out of her nostalgia. She reached into the crevice of the coffin and produced her red cell phone, and then answered it.

**2216 hours**

Gibbs satin his kitchen, staring into the un touched bottle of bourbon in front of him.

Had he really not drank any yet? His young agent was really dying, leaving and not coming back...  
Gone.  
He would be gone, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Suddenly, his phone rang, showing a number he didn't recognize.

"Yeah, this is Gibbs."

"Agent Gibbs?" The timid female voice on the other end of the phone asked.

"Yes." Gibbs replied, curious as to who this may be.

"This is Vivienne McGee, Tim's mother." She told him. "I was to inform you that Tim passed away in his sleep today."


End file.
